One weekend Madison and I journeyed to Pohkara Nepal, it is a tourist town that has incredible views of the Annapurna mountain range! Madison and I were standing on the road looking at these mountains and I began to feel a deep appreciation and sense of reverence for God’s creation. I then began to think of beauty and power. Here are my thoughts.
If we look at the world through God’s lens we would see that God places more value on people than the greatest natural beauties of this world. The same emotions that are evoked in us while observing nature at its finest should be understood that that is how God sees us.
The graph below needs some explanation. First I thought of something beautiful in relation to its size. (The X-Axis) A flower is seemingly small, arguable very beautiful; depending on the flower of course, and a flower is not very dangerous. (The Y-Axis) As the graph builds and the larger the object gets the more beautiful the object becomes. Certainly beauty is in the eye of the beholder; however, this is the way I see it. Tigers are really cool and very beautiful, and as the graph shows they are more dangerous than a flower. The next is the oceans waves, beautiful to look at and if you are not careful again very dangerous. The next is Mount Everest, the largest mountain in the world. 1 out of 4 people who climb it will die, obviously very dangerous and clearly one of Gods most beautiful and majestic creations. Finally, we come to words. Words can be the most beautiful thing in the world. When Madison first told me she loved me it meant more to me than any view of Mount Everest ever could, but words are also incredibly destructive. We can all think of many ways we have been hurt by words.
Some of you may be thinking that words are not very large to follow the true format of this graph. You would be right; however, words certainly carry a lot of weight and are metaphorically immeasurably larger.
At the peak of God’s creation is us. We may be able to view and experience Mount Everest, the ocean, a beautiful waterfall in the rain forest in Thailand, and the savannas in Africa to observe some beautiful animals, with great admiration and awe. But the reason I am writing this blog is to communicate that God’s heart is for us to see each other in a greater respect. Think of the greatest view you have ever seen, God heart is for the same expression you felt in the moment to be expressed when we see the many people of this world. Often times we see the world through the lens of history or culture. Can we recognize that our enemies or those who have hurt us are more precious than the oceans waves or snow capped mountains.
Now we get to our words. James 3:9-11
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”
This year we will see tremendous beauty in nature and in culture, yet Gods desire for our team and squad, is to seek the beauty of people. This will start for me with my words, to communicate with people across the world that the are more valued and worth immeasurably more than the flowers around them or the rivers that run through their villages. Our Tongue can create life, but also death. (Proverbs 18:21) Through the Lords help, I choose to create life.
